Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 219 Officials fulfill their duties; even the wise ministers of old cannot surpass them.
The second day of the seventh lunar month in the third year of the Chongzhen reign (1644) marked the beginning of autumn. When Zhu Youjian (Emperor Chongzhen) attended the morning court session, Xu Guangqi and others from the Ministry of Revenue reported to him on the autumn harvest situation in various regions. While disasters continued in some areas, the situation in Beizhili (Northern Zhili) was particularly encouraging.
Bi Ziyan spearheaded the re-evaluation of the land in the eight prefectures and two states of Beizhili, which totaled 73.89 million mu, of which more than 4 million mu were public land.

This year, 3.2 million mu of land were leased out, generating 2.8 million shi of rent, equivalent to approximately 1.5 million taels of silver, comparable to the total annual tax revenue of Beizhili in the previous year. If the collected taxes are also taken into account, for the first time in hundreds of years of Ming Dynasty history, Beizhili's tax revenue has surpassed that of Nanzhili.

This result shocked everyone and made it clear that no one could stop the implementation of the public land policy anymore, because the interests involved were too great:

The imperial court could no longer afford to give up such a large sum of money, and they were unwilling to see such a large amount of funding lost.

In their view, this was simply a way to make money out of thin air, but this wonderful result was actually built on the slaughter of the Jurchens. It was nothing more than the most primitive, bloody but effective way to deal with the conflict between people and land: kill people and the land will naturally be freed up!
Some radical officials even proposed confiscating the land of princes and nobles and turning it into public land. This was because the previous limited reforms had only standardized the tax exemption for these people, but had not taken away the staggering amount of land they owned.

However, Zhu Youjian was not blinded by his slight victory. He believed that one must take things one step at a time, so he reserved his opinion on these radical suggestions.

Among the radicals, there were also those who were less radical. Everyone saw the benefits of land rent and felt that expanding the amount of public land was imperative, but seizing other people's land and houses was ultimately not a good thing. Their suggestion was that the imperial court could use a portion of its funds to redeem land and then rent it out again.

Zhu Youjian almost laughed when he heard this suggestion: a mu of superior land cost a dozen or so taels of silver, and even at most, the court could only collect one or two taels of silver in rent per mu, meaning it would take more than ten years to break even. Forget about buying it back; if someone were willing to privatize the public land at a normal price, he would be in a rush to sell it!
That annual rent of one shi per mu is based on good years!
Of course, they might not be willing to buy at a normal price, but during years of famine, by undervaluing the land, they are very willing to seize this state asset for a very small amount of money. For many years, they have used this method to increase the amount of land under their names.

They didn't think there was anything wrong with it; hadn't this been the way things had been for hundreds of years? It wasn't until the entire country was hollowed out and the Eight Banners descendants started to seize land that they realized the land they had hoarded was completely useless.

But not everyone can see when a great building is about to collapse. The slogan of national subjugation was shouted every year, but the corrupt Ming Empire had survived for 260 years. Every time it was about to collapse, someone would always jump out to save the day: perhaps it was Zhu Yuanzhang, perhaps it was Yu Qian, perhaps it was Emperor Xianzong, or perhaps it was the famous prime minister Zhang Juzheng.

At this moment, Zhu Youjian stood in front of Zhang Juzheng's belongings, lost in thought.

This item, named "Official Name Screen," was a gift from Zhang Juzheng to the young Emperor Zhu Yijun. Its purpose was to help him remember the names of court officials and understand the personnel arrangements of the court.

It has fifteen panels in total. The three panels in the middle are maps of the territory of the Ming Empire, the six panels on the left are the positions and names of important civil officials, and the six panels on the right are the positions and names of important military generals. The positions and names are all printed on paper and can be changed.

Zhu Youjian held several floating stickers in his hand, pondering where to insert them, but his thoughts wandered as he did so, and he felt a sense of melancholy.

Zhang Juzheng said, "I am not a prime minister, but an administrator," but Hai Rui commented that he was "skilled in governing the country, but inept at self-preservation."

The civil officials disliked him, the emperor disliked him, so who would like him?!

If Zhang Juzheng was merely power-hungry, why did he go to such lengths to cultivate the young Wanli Emperor? This veteran official of four reigns, the "Official Writing Screen" is the best evidence of his dedication.

If he had any intention of usurping the throne, he could have simply kept the emperor like a pig, entertained him, and provided him with women. There was no need for him to go to such lengths!

If he said he was doing it for the sake of all people and to provide them with a way to make a living, his reforms actually brought them even greater disasters.

I don't know if my original intention was misunderstood, or if I was just too incompetent or too confident, which led to things going against my wishes.

He was born before I was born, and Zhu Youjian had no chance to meet this great prime minister of all time. The reason he thought about him was because he was wondering whether or not to officially recognize Zhang Juzheng's merits!
The "Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong" began to be compiled in the first year of the Tianqi reign and is only nearing completion this year. However, there are still a few important points that have not been resolved, including the final judgment on Zhang Juzheng.

Zhu Youjian looked at the "Official Posts Screen" that had been pasted up and torn down repeatedly; these remaining marks were the marks of time.

The Forbidden City is not lacking in antiques. The floor tiles he was stepping on might have been made under the supervision of the Hongwu Emperor and then taken from Nanjing by Zhu Yuanzhang and transported to Beijing. However, there are indeed not many antiques that people today can tell the story of.

Perhaps in a few hundred years, this screen will be torn down and burned as firewood by the invading rebels. By then, probably no one will know the story of this screen anymore.

Zhu Youjian slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, casually tossed aside the note in his hand, snatched the paper and pen from Wanwan's hand, and carefully wrote:
Sun Shiwan rarely saw the emperor like this, so he stood up, curiously walked to Zhu Youjian's side, and read aloud the words the emperor had written, word by word:

"Ju Zheng, with his talent for governing from afar, was able to disregard criticism and seize power when the emperor was young and the country was in turmoil. He oversaw the administration of officials, eliminated corruption and abuses, and for ten years the people lived in peace and the officials performed their duties. Even the wise ministers of the past could not surpass him. His talent and achievements are indeed outstanding and unparalleled!"

After reading it, she was unable to calm down for a long time.

"I never imagined Your Majesty possessed such literary talent," Wanwan said softly.

"Just what I felt, just what I felt!" Zhu Youjian stood with his hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and looked incredibly proud! But he would never admit to plagiarism!

In the early stages of compiling the Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong, Zhang Weixian served as the supervisor, while Ye Xianggao, Liu Yizhu, Shi Jixie, and others served as chief editors.

But Zhang Weixian was clearly not someone who could settle down to compiling books. He was only credited for supporting the emperor and was also a nominally trusted minister entrusted with the care of the young emperor, so he was given a nominal title.

In reality, the late emperor died from prostitution, and it's hard to say whether he actually entrusted his son to someone else. Perhaps Zhang Weixian simply chose the right side.

Ye Xianggao was already dead, and Liu Yiju and Shi Jixie were too old to continue their official duties. This is why the revision of the "Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong" took so many years: political turmoil, overstaffing, and a general sense of insecurity in the court prevented people from doing their jobs properly.

These circumstances only improved after Zhu Youjian ascended the throne. If Zhu Jianshen hadn't beaten him to it, Zhu Youjian would have even considered using the temple name "Xianzong" (宪宗). Of course, "Sizong" (思宗) wouldn't be bad either, as it could be paired with Empress Wei Zifu (卫子夫). The last leg of a journey is the hardest; although it was nearing its end, it didn't mean the work at this stage was unimportant. The posthumous reputation of the Ming Dynasty's "slacker," Emperor Shenzong (明神宗), and his ministers will be determined by the final few lines in history books.

On a larger scale, the content of this book will also influence the ideology of the Ming Dynasty to some extent, determining what kind of people future generations will become.

As for the supervisors, the real work was done by the "oxen and horses" of the Hanlin Academy. Those who were merely nominal didn't need to know history; all they needed was a prestigious title. Following custom, Zhu Youjian stuffed all the bigwigs of the court into the list to make it look impressive. The point was that these bigwigs' resumes would have entries like: "Served in such-and-such position in the 'Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong' in such-and-such year," or "Assisted in the compilation of such-and-such section."

Zhu Youjian was relatively free today, so he took his own comments and headed to the Hanlin Academy, preparing to show off his divine abilities in front of others.

Of course, he wasn't just trying to show off; he also wanted to solve some practical problems, such as saving face for Zhu Yijun and giving him a smear.

He hadn't attended court for decades, so the civil officials must have hated him and couldn't possibly have anything nice to say about him. But Zhu Youjian felt that while it was true he didn't attend court, it would be unfair to say he didn't handle affairs.

Despite its flaws, the Wanli Emperor's three major campaigns were still victories. Zhu Youjian believed that he was merely using the outward appearance of neglecting his duties to cover up the fact that he had replaced the outer court with the Twelve Directorates of the Inner Court. Of course, he failed because the outer officials were at odds with the emperor, and the inner officials were no better; in fact, their moral standards were even lower, and their mentality was more perverse.

The saying goes, "If the ruler is upright, the ministers will be upright," but Zhu Houcong led this astray.

Ultimately, political maneuvering is not the right path. The earliest strategists, such as those in the state of Han during the Warring States period, loved to play the game of "rule by tactics," believing that "if punishments are unknowable, then authority is unpredictable." They aimed to make the monarch's emotions inscrutable and his authority unfathomable, but in the end, they brought about their own downfall.

Politics isn't that complicated. Just say what you want to do, find a way to persuade the majority, or be persuaded yourself. Explain your reasoning clearly and thoroughly, don't be afraid of the trouble. Only when your comrades understand and thoroughly grasp the concepts will they support you.

Zhu Youjian clearly stated: The court is short of money, the army is too poor to fight effectively, the country needs to raise funds, and the army needs to be prioritized. There may be some changes to this, which may be unfamiliar to some. For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, for the people, and for your own sake, please bear with me.

You have to bear it even if you can't, unless you can defeat me or incite the army to overthrow me. But why would the army rebel against me?!
The Hanlin Academy was home to a group of upright and noble officials. In the past, they endured poverty in order to secure a better future, because, according to unspoken rules, Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were often selected from among the upright officials of the Hanlin Academy.

But now they were somewhat confused, because the emperor was not playing by the rules! The top three newly appointed scholars were directly sent to other places, instead of being sent to the Hanlin Academy for further training.

What does this all mean? Is the message being conveyed that the emperor intends for the Hanlin Academy to be sidelined?

But unspoken rules are unspoken rules; they can't just jump up to the emperor and say, "Your Majesty, why don't you get us a position as Grand Secretaries?" That wouldn't fit their public persona. Asking for land, houses, or official positions is shameful.

So they came up with a desperate measure: to attract the emperor's attention through the "Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong".

Re-employment is the next step; they at least need to make sure the emperor doesn't forget about them. These officials in the Hanlin Academy were originally the emperor's confidants, and were supposed to lecture him regularly, but in recent years, when has the emperor ever summoned them even once?
It's really unsettling to slack off at work and still get paid. These young academicians in the Hanlin Academy are terrified that they might be "optimized" out by the emperor at any moment, especially since news has already spread throughout the court that the emperor intends to reduce the army and launch "run investigations" and "run accounting."

The so-called "run check" or "run account" refers to an extra random check conducted in addition to the regular Beijing inspection and grand account every six years. The timing of these checks is unpredictable and depends entirely on the individual's mood.

For a long time, the imperial inspections in the capital and the outlying regions were merely formalities, even becoming tools for factional struggles. But the current emperor is different. He's a smiling tiger who can be all smiles one second and send cavalry to your doorstep the next. And yet, those common soldiers are so obedient to the emperor, whether it's the imperial guards, the capital garrison, or the local armies.

If the major examination were to be taken seriously, who knows how many high-ranking officials would be brought down? Even high-ranking officials and department heads would likely be involved, and even ministers would be fighting amongst themselves.

The good news is that they succeeded and did attract the emperor's attention, but their predicament remained unresolved: how to get the emperor to give them an important position. Since the emperor was so opinionated, a prince seemed like a good option; if they couldn't win in this generation, they could still seek victory in the next.

Although it might take a long time, at least there's something to look forward to, isn't there?! Or perhaps, if something happens to the emperor, their opportunity will arise, won't it?! No one wants to end up like Zhang Juzheng, but everyone wants to be Zhang Juzheng, and believes they won't repeat his mistakes. Wasn't Zhang Juzheng just a minor Hanlin official back then?!
They not only "swew" the emperor to their court, but the emperor then "swew" the cabinet ministers to their court. The small Hanlin Academy, where even blue robes were rarely seen, was now filled with officials in crimson and purple. The supposedly arrogant officials, who only believed in reason and endorsed the words of ancient sages, showing no respect for anyone, were now completely subdued in the presence of so many powerful figures.

Zhu Youjian was unaware of the rich thoughts running through the minds of the Hanlin Academy members. He didn't deliberately target them, nor did he place much importance on them, which was just as he expected. These minor officials of the seventh or eighth rank weren't even qualified to have their "official titles displayed on screens."

With tens of thousands of officials throughout the Ming Dynasty, how could Zhu Youjian possibly remember them all? It was already quite good that he remembered to provide some living allowances to these mid- to lower-ranking officials. The promotion and demotion of lower-ranking officials didn't even go through his hands; often, the Ministry of Personnel made the decisions themselves.

Those who control personnel are truly powerful; otherwise, the Minister of Personnel wouldn't be respectfully called the "Heavenly Official." Scholars spend ten years studying diligently, fighting their way out from tens of thousands of others, finally managing to obtain an official position, only to have their fate still in the hands of the Ministry of Personnel. One can only imagine the bitterness they endured.

If the officials in the Ministry of Personnel are fair in their dealings, then not getting promoted is simply a matter of being less capable than others; but if they encounter someone with a big appetite, one can only imagine how resentful they must be.

Different people have different opinions. When Bi Ziyan read Zhu Youjian's comments on Zhang Juzheng, his eyes lit up and his spirits improved considerably.

As the person in charge of the reform, he had already disregarded life and death, but he still cared a lot about his posthumous reputation. He was afraid that after working hard all his life, he would be cursed as a traitor, which would be extremely unfair and make him grit his teeth.

Zhu Xieyuan was a rather witty person in private, but rather reserved in public.

"For the past ten years, the people have lived in peace and their livelihoods have been secure, and the officials have performed their duties admirably. Even the wise ministers of the past could not surpass this! Your Majesty's words are enough to make me feel at peace!" Zhu Xieyuan exclaimed.

"You mean Zhang Juzheng died with his eyes wide open?!" Zhu Youjian thought to himself.

(End of this chapter)